Local Musicians ‘Play It Back’ For Hurricane Harvey, Irma Relief

By 10-31-17

NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans hospitality and entertainment leaders have banded together and announced the formation of the Playing it Back: Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert, a major star-studded relief concert and fundraising event for the recent storm victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, that will be held Wednesday, Nov. 15, at Generations Hall, 310 Andrew Higgins Dr., from 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

The Playing it Back: Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert will raise funds for the Cajun Navy Relief and the Junior League New Orleans’ diaper bank. Both organizations have been instrumental in the recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic seaboard from record-breaking hurricanes that have destroyed or damaged large sections of the United States, organizers said.

Many of the event’s participants are Katrina survivors who want to reciprocate the goodwill and outpouring of support that the Crescent City received after its 2005 disaster, organizers said.

The benefit concert will feature live performances by Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr., The Phunky Monkeys and Armando Leduc y Salsa Royal.

“Those of us who survived Hurricane Katrina are all too familiar with what Texans and Floridians are experiencing in the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma,” Leduc, lead singer and benefit brainchild, said. “There’s no way I could sit by idly so I recruited some of the best hospitality industry businesses and musicians to come together to ‘play it back’ for our neighbors across the Gulf Coast.”

Concert attendees are encouraged to bring diapers, baby wipes and feminine products or cash donations that will go directly to Cajun Navy Relief and Junior League New Orleans’ diaper bank to be distributed to hurricane victims in the affected areas.

“The Cajun Navy Relief is an example of what America should and can be like,” said the Cajun Navy Relief founder and event board member Damien Callais. “The Cajun Navy Relief is a movement, not just people in boats, and anyone who comes to this event and donates can consider themselves an honorary member of the Cajun Navy Relief.”